Down South

[jammi]

"Ri-ight, this is the Resolution. We're looking good at the moment. Everything's stable so far. We're bringing in a rock sample for the boffins. Be back in 10'." The link popped shut. Alex drummed his fingers on the command dash again. Theyd sent the Resolution through to have a poke around and gather samples.

The hole had taken the Clydesdale just fine. The return jump would be the clincher though. From experience he knew that sending a probe and a ship through were two entirely different matters, seeing as the ion trails from a ship's engines could cause the hole to destabilise. Hence the reason the Cook hadn't been risked. Some would have seen gambling the Clydesdale as callous, but the crew knew the dangers when they volunteered.

There was a flash of light and the Resolution was expelled from the anomaly. Alex gave a sigh of relief. The hole was stable. The cargo bay was vented, then opened so the Resolution could manoeuvre for docking. After a few minutes Alex felt the hull shake slightly as the Clydesdale was locked in place and the bay closed and pressurised.

After that he went back to studying the starcharts he'd had pulled up on the Navcom. Between recent discoveries by deep space flight teams stumbling across new systems, and by the telescopes of the CRI spotting new solar bodies, that would make this system... Number 49 in the Omega sector. Omega 49. He jotted that down then turned to look at the video feed.

The asteroid field appeared to be empty, which was perfect. The Resolution had tractored in a small piece of rock for sampling then jumped back. There was a beep from his communicator. Looking down he saw it was from one of the scientists: Frank Holloway, a spatial geologist. Opening the channel a burble of excited background chatter broke through before he spoke. "We're getting a big bonus for this, buddy. That rock the Resolution brought back was bisected by a strata of almost pure niobium, and we can tell you that now, and we've only just cracked it open! BMM's gonna love us. Were going to need a few more samples for consistency, but I think were onto a winner!"

"Niobium? That's brilliant. I'll have the Resolution jump back for some more when you need it."

"Thanks Alex. Well get back to you later."

This was all worth it. Alex leaned back into his chair, closed his eyes and dreamed of a fat cheque coming his way for his retirement.

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